Monday, November 7, 2011

Chicken Parmesan

I may have already put this recipe on my blog at some point. It's one of my absolute favorite dinners I make for my family. It's great for Sundays and company because I can make it ahead of time and just bake it right before we eat. I serve it with pasta, extra sauce, a salad and bread or bruschetta.

Start with a bunch of boneless skinless chicken breasts and pound them with a meat tenderizer in a ziplock bag (so the juices don't splash all over the place) until they are so thin they are starting to fall apart. It is really important to make them super thin so they cook evenly and quickly. I can't stand thick, dry chicken breasts. Plus it really seems to make more this way. I always end up with more servings than I anticipated and have a hard time fitting them in the pan.

Then pat them dry with paper towels and dip them in a mixture of beaten eggs and either milk or water. This helps the bread crumbs stick.

Next coat them with Italian bread crumbs. They're full of flavor, so you don't need to add any extra spices.

Heat a very thin layer of canola or vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan. You don't want to use too much or else it won't crisp up. Work in batches and rotate them around to make sure they cook evenly, adding more oil as needed. When they are golden brown on both sides, put them on paper towels to soak up the excess grease.

Then transfer them to a 9x10 pan that has a thick layer of spaghetti sauce (I especially like Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara, which has a great flavor). I use about half a jar in the pan and heat up the other half to seve with the pasta.

Bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then top with mozzerella cheese and bake until it's melted and bubbly, about 10-15 more minutes. I happened to have some fresh parmesan this time, so I grated that on there too. Serve over pasta. Yum!! This recipe also works great with eggplant parmesan. Of course you don't need to pound those - just slice them nice and thick. The leftovers make excellent sandwiches - reheat and put on toasted sourdough or hoagie roll with plenty of sauce.